Postscripts : A Look Back at People and Events in the News : Election Reform Fails to Qualify

The Redondo Beach mayor’s and city treasurer’s bid to limit campaign contributions and prohibit some campaign practices fell short last week when they did not get the number of signatures needed to place an initiative on the March ballot.

The effort, led by Mayor Barbara J. Doerr and Treasurer Alice DeLong, fell nearly 1,300 signatures short of the 2,907 needed, Deputy City Clerk Linda Gregory said.

The group asked for an extension of the Nov. 24 deadline. City Atty. Gordon Phillips said he expects to make a decision later this week on the legality of an extension.

DeLong said the group needs a couple of weeks to get the remaining signatures. “I just think we weren’t as organized as we should have been,” she said. The group collected signatures through mailings to friends and to a lesser extent by canvassing at supermarkets, she said. She did not know how many people had collected signatures.

The initiative would have limited contributions to a total of $250 from a single source for the general and runoff elections combined. The proposed city Charter amendment also would have required stricter itemizing of contributions.